Is there any research about the connection between disability and poverty?

Which search terms should I use?

Is there a current research review directly related to this topic?

Are there any key texts on this topic?

Is there any information on organisational websites?

Who can provide further information on this topic?

Which search terms should I use?

In this example, the key search terms would be:

• 'disability', 'disabled', 'disabilities' (in some databases, you can search for all these terms at the same time, by typing in 'disab*')
• 'children', 'young people', 'family'
• 'poverty', 'economic', 'vulnerable'

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Is there a current research review directly related to this topic?

We have produced two briefings on this topic that can be found in the our publications section of the research in practice website:

• Every Child Matters briefing No. 6 - Sloper, P. (2002): Meeting the Needs of Disabled Children (Dartington: research in practice)
• Champions for Children No. 3 – Ryan, M. (2004) Enabling Disabled Children and their Families (Dartington: research in practice) (PDF version: new window)

There is also a section on one of our Audio Publications entitled Children First that looks at the impact of poverty on the social exclusion of disabled children and young people.

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Are there any key texts on this topic?

Eric Emerson and Chris Hatton have done quite a bit of work on the link between disability and poverty:

• Emerson, E. and Hatton, C. (2007) 'The Socio-Economic Circumstances of Children at Risk of Disability in Britain' Disability and Society 22 (6) pp. 563-580.
• Emerson, E. and Hatton, C. (2007) 'Poverty, Socio-Economic Position, Social Capital and the Health of Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disabilities in Britain: A Replication' Journal of Intellectual Disability Research 51 (11) pp. 866-874.
• Emerson, E. (2004) 'Poverty and Children with Intellectual Disabilities in the World's Richer Countries' Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability 29 (4) pp. 319-338.

It is also worth checking out:

• Burchardt, T. (2006) 'Changing Weights and Measures: Disability and child poverty' Poverty 123 pp. 6-9.
• McKay, S. and Atkinson, A. (2007) Disability and Caring Among Families with Children: Family employment and poverty characteristics (Leeds: Corporate Document Services, Great Britain. Department of Work and Pensions.)
• Reith, L. (2001) 'Children, Poverty and Disability' Poverty 109 pp. 10-13.

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Is there any information on organisational websites?

The Social Policy Research Unit , which is based at the University of York, has done quite a bit of work in this area. You can access a list of their publications on their website

Of course, children need to be looked at within the context of the family, and a number of organisations have produced articles on the economic wellbeing of disabled people as a whole, including parents with disabilities:

• Parcker, G. (2008) Disability Poverty in the UK (London: Leonard Cheshire Disability)
• Smith, N. et al (2004) Disabled People's Costs of Living: More than you would think (York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation)
• Strelitz, J. and Lister, L. (eds) (2008) Why Money Matters: Family Income, Poverty and Children's Lives (London: Save the Children)

It might also be worth looking at how disability fits in with other factors contributing to child poverty:

• Sharma, N. (2007) It Doesn't Happen Here: The reality of child poverty in the UK (London: Barnados)

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Who can provide further information on this topic?

Do check out the Register of Researchers . This provides further details of Tricia Sloper's work in this field, along with other researchers who have worked on this topic.

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